Safety security vest

ABSTRACT

A garment apparatus including a generally tubular body adjustably fitted to a medical patient and having at least one restraining belt connected thereto for securing the patient to a supporting structure.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,788,309 Zeilman Jan. 29, 1974 SAFETY SECURITY VEST 2,652,052 9/1953 [76] Inventor: Mary c. Zeilman, 1167-25th Ave., N., St. Petersburg, Fla. 33704 2:044:390 /1936 2,722,694 11/1955 [22] 1972 3,407,807 10/1968 Giberson 128/134 [21] Appl. No.: 281,906

Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerLee S. Cohen ((3:11. Attorney, Agent, or Yates Bowen Jr [58] Field of Search 128/134, 132, 133, 138;

2/69.5, 102, DIG. 7 [57] ABSTRACT A garment apparatus including a generally tubular [56] R fer c Cit d body adjustably fitted to a medical patient and having n- STATES PATENTS at least one restraining belt connected thereto for se- 3 64 997 2,1972 Posey 128/134 curing the patient to a supporting structure. 2,827,898 3/1958 Thompson 128/134 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SAFETY SECURITY VEST BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to restraining devices of various kinds and particularly to devices which are used to restrain and protect medical patients in beds, wheel chairs, and operative or transportable tables or carts.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofore many efforts have been made to provide restraining devices to assist medical patients of various kinds to remain on a supporting structure such as a chair, bed or the like, as well as to prevent unstable patients from leaving a bed or other supporting structure when hospital personnel were not present. These devices have included garments of various sizes which could be opened to facilitate application to the patient, or were loosely fitting so that one size fit several sizes of patients, and in most cases such garments formed folds or creases which were uncomfortable to the patient, particularly when the patient moved an excessive amount in an effort to escape from the restraining device. Most of these prior art devices include a plurality of belts or straps for securing the garment to the patient, as well as to secure the garment and the patient to a bed or other supporting structure. Some examples of prior art devices are disclosed in the patents to Dillon U.S. Pat. No. 1,808,496 Thompson U.S. Pat. No. 2,827,898; Robertson U.S. Pat. No. 3,137,294; and Posey, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,997.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A patient restraining garment comprising a basic one-piece structure which is completely disposed around the upper torso of the body and which is open at the arms, provided with a V, scoop or open neck both front and rear, an opening in the back flaring from a point in the small of the back to the sides at a point even with the lower front edge of the vest, and provided with a garment adjusting means under which is provided a protective cloth tongue. The garment also is provided with a belt and belt loop and means for attaching the ends of the belt to a bed, chair or other supporting surface.

It is an object of the invention to provide a restraining garment which is of unitary construction to completely surround the upper torso of a patient and which is provided with means for adjusting the fit of the garment to the contours of the patient after being placed on the patient.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety security vest having added comfort and restraint by providing means for adjusting the garment within various sizes after the garment is placed on the patient to insure a comfortable, secure fit with ease of placement on the wearer, the vest being provided with a cloth tongue between the adjusting means and the patient to protect the patient from irritation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety security vest having added comfort in the garment by providing a flared opening in the lower back section of the one-piece construction to allow for an incontinent patient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating the garment in use.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the security vest.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the security vest showing one type of adjusting means.

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to the drawings, a safety security vest 10 is provided having a generally tubular body 11 constructed of a strong flexible cloth material, such as duck, nylon or the like, which is essentially nonstretchable. The body 11 is provided with open arm holes 12, front V-neck 13, and rear scoop neck 14. Although the V- and scoop necks have been illustrated, various combinations of open necks can be used, such as V-neck or scoop neck front and rear. The body 11 also has a flared contoured opening 15 in the lower back with such opening 15 beginning at a point in the small of the patients back and flaring downwardly and outwardly toward the sides of the body at a point in line with the bottom of the front.

A slotted area or notch 16 extends downwardly from the rear neck portion 14 of the body along the back, and the borders along opposite sides of such notch are provided with gromets or eyelets 17 through which lacing 18 is drawn facilitating easy adjustment of the vest and thereby providing a secure and comfortable fit. The flared opening 15 and slotted opening 16 do not meet but are separated by a portion of the body 11. To protect the patient from any irritation from the adjusting means, a cloth tongue 19 is connected by stiching 20 along one edge to the inside of the body 11 adjacent to the lacing 18 and is adapted to underlie the notch 16 to provide a protective pad between the lacing and the wearer. Although a lacing type of adjustment means has been illustrated, other adjustment means, such as straps or other adjustable closures may be used.

In order to secure the vest or garment and the patient to a supporting structure, an elongated belt loop or sleeve 21 is attached by stiching 22 to the mid chest section of the front of the body 11 below the V-neck 13, thus providing more leverage to support and restrain the upper torso of the body. A restraining belt or strap 23 is freely slidably mounted within the belt loop 21. Each end of the belt or strap 23 is provided with a spring clip 24 or other easily operated locking device to facilitate fastening opposite ends of the belt to a bed, chair or the like.

Preferably the vest 10 is manufactured in one or more sizes for children as well as small, medium, large and extra large sizes for adults so that a general size is selected for a particular patient and thereafter the lacing 18 is utilized to adjust the vest to the specific size of the patient.

In the use of the device, a vest of an approximate size is chosen to fit the patient and such garment is placed over the head and onto the upper torso of the patient, as shown in FIG. 1. The lacing or other adjusting means then is tightened to cause the vest to conform to the body of the patient. Care should be taken during the tightening of the lacing so that the tongue 19 does not become folded or wrinkled. The belt 23 is placed through the belt loop 21 and is secured to a bed or other supporting structure. When the patient is passive and requires only partial or limited restraint, the belt 23 normally extends outwardly and upwardly from the loop 21 and the clips 24 are attached to any accessible fixture such as the sides of the bed frame or the like. When the patient is violent or requires full restraint, the belt 23 normally is wrapped around the patient to fully encircle the torso at least once, after which the ends of the belt are secured to a fixture that is inaccessible to the patient. To accommodate these different requirements, the belt 23 may be provided in varying lengths. Since the adjustable lacing 18 causes the vest to conform closely to the body of the patient, the patient cannot slip from the vest either accidentally or on purpose.

1. A safety security vest for at least partially restraining a person on a supporting structure, said vest comprising a generally tubular body open at the lower end and partially closed at the upper end, said body having a front and a back, the upper end of said body having a first opening through the center portion thereof to accommodate the neck of a person, second and third openings through said upper end disposed in a spaced relationship to either side of said first opening to accommodate the arms of a person, said body having a notch extending from said neck opening down the back of the body to a position intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof, means for adjustably connecting opposite sides of said notch together for causing said body to conform to the torso of a person, a tongue stitched to the inside of said body adjacent to one side of said notch and extending across said notch in a position to protect the person from said adjusting means, an elongated belt loop fixed to the central portion of the front of said body, an elongated restraining belt independently mounted of said body and slidably mounted within said belt loop, and clip means connected to each end of said belt for connecting both ends of said belt to the supporting structure, whereby said vest is adjusted to confonn closely to the torso of a person to at least partially restrain the movement of the person when the clip means at the ends of the belt are secured to the supporting structure.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said belt is of a length to completely encircle the torso of a person and extend outwardly to remote positions.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the back of said body has a flared opening extending upwardly from the lower end of said vest and terminating in spaced relation to said notch. 

1. A safety security vest for at least partially restraining a person on a supporting structure, said vest comprising a generally tubular body open at the lower end and partially closed at the upper end, said body having a front and a back, the upper end of said body having a first opening through the center portion thereof to accommodate the neck of a person, second and third openings through said upper end disposed in a spaced relationship to either side of said first opening to accommodate the arms of a person, said body having a notch extending from said neck opening down the back of the body to a position intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof, means for adjustably connecting opposite sides of said notch together for causing said body to conform to the torso of a person, a tongue stitched to the inside of said body adjacent to one side of said notch and extending across said notch in a position to protect the person from said adjusting means, an elongated belt loop fixed to the central portion of the front of said body, an elongated restraining belt independently mounted of said body and slidably mounted within said belt loop, and clip means connected to each end of said belt for connecting both ends of said belt to the supporting structure, whereby said vest is adjusted to conform closely to the torso of a person to at least partially restrain the movement of the person when the clip means at the ends of the belt are secured to the supporting structure.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which said belt is of a length to completely encircle the torso of a person and extend outwardly to remote positions.
 3. The structure of claim 1 in which the back of said body has a flared opening extending upwardly from the lower end of said vest and terminating in spaced relation to said notch. 